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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Even The Simple Things - Better Dish Washing

Who enjoys washing dishes after a meal? What about pots and pans. Bleh. I've heard that some people actually find it therapeutic to stand in front of the sink and clean dirty dishes, pots and pans. Really? I don't see it. I will go to great lengths to reduce the amount of washing I have to do. Sometimes I even use paper plates! Not as eco-friendly, but mostly eliminates the washing up. I try not to use plastic utensils though. Never strong enough for a real meal. OK I'm a bit brutish sometimes! To shorten my dish-washing experience I use a simple item. A dish soap filled dispensing brush.

Typical Sponge Stick

Believe it or not, there are quite a few designs of these brushes. I went through a lot of trial and error (mostly error) finding one that actually worked well, didn't fall apart and managed to keep the dish washing liquid IN the reservoir when it wasn't in use. The most common version is a long plastic handle with a screw lid. You fill up the handle and when you wash it "automatically" dispenses soap. The brush and/or sponge on the end is removable. These are useless. They "dispense" soap all the time. As long as the sponge/brush side is down...you get flow. It was always a pain to find a spot to store it upside down. I always had a puddle of blue liquid at the bottom of my sink. Since it was long, it wouldn't fit under the sink covers. Wasteful. The one I finally found (and use) is much simpler.

Small And Wonderful

For the princely sum of $2.50, I found the best dish cleaner I've ever used in the RV. It's tiny. Fit's under the sink covers (I could fit A LOT of them under there...maybe they'll party like the scrubbin' bubbles you see on the commercials...maybe not!) And the best thing? It never leaks soap all over the place when not in use! You simply press on the top of the rubber cover to dispense a bit of dish soap. Seems deceptively simple; it's not. You see, you need some kind of a stop valve to keep it from leaking. How does it work without any "mechanics" inside? Using science of course!

Here's how it works. The lid comes off so you can fill the clear plastic reservoir with dish soap, whatever brand you like (or is on sale), then you press the soft rubber lid back on. It makes a seal to keep the liquid inside. When you need some soap on the brush, lightly press the "button" molded into the top of the lid. This raises the pressure in the reservoir a little bit, forcing open the red rubber valve on the bottom and releasing a measured amount of soap. Brilliant! Simple, elegant solution that requires no fancy bits and pieces. When you're done with washing, rinse the soap off the bristles and store. Done.

I love simple solutions. Especially when they save time and money. And in the case of RV's with a limited water supply, not using a whole sink full of soapy water AND additional water to rinse will save you a good amount of fresh water. Maybe it's still "therapeutic!"